


Relief Blooms in the Dead of Winter

by Overthinkerwrites



Category: Ava's Demon
Genre: Based off of fanart, F/F, Gen, One-Shot, written with artist's permission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-07
Updated: 2016-09-07
Packaged: 2018-08-13 13:23:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7978222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Overthinkerwrites/pseuds/Overthinkerwrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maggie Lacivi thought she always knew what she wanted.  However, priorities change when backed into a corner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Relief Blooms in the Dead of Winter

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by, and written with permission, Nebularum’s inktober fanart of Maggie; http://nebularum.tumblr.com/post/131116869747/inktober-13-with-more-avas-demon

Maggie knew what she wanted.

At first, she thought she wanted love. Tuls’ magic helped her in that regard. Several times, in fact. How unfortunate that one after the other ended in the usual catastrophic mess she did not expect or want.

She had saved the last of Tuls’ power, the last seed, for herself. Because after finding out Gil would never show the interest in her the way she once had in him, a part of her had given up. If magic could not give her love, then she could do without it.

She would help that sad sack of mulch confess his feelings to his princess and then be done with it.

After that, she wanted to just be left alone. Just leave the whole damn ordeal behind her.

How unfortunate that trouble always seemed to follow her in one form or another.

TiTan was assaulting the last planet the Florani, Tuls’ and Ranunculae’s race, was defending against and they had slipped in unnoticed between skirmishes.

Tuls had gotten his wish, at the nearly withered body of his love. He had confessed and she had reciprocated. Somehow, the flower princess knew Tuls’ soul and hers were joined and could feel the love he had for her. Before passing out again, she had smiled and whispered her own confession for him.

It made Maggie sick.

Then another Titan assault force had attacked.

Aware that escape was impossible, she was ready to fight just to get the aggression out of her system. However, Ranunculae had awoken again and begged for her assistance.

“What? You think I care? I don’t! I just need something to break so I can get the hell out of here!”

“Not as Magnolia is!” she answered in the strange third-person manner most Florani did. “Magnolia has Florani soul, but not Florani. Florani can give it to Magnolia! Only if Magnolia will save Florani!”

Maggie let loose a low growl, not entirely sure what she was referring to. “Okay! Fine! Just get it over with so I can do something instead of sit here!”

The Flower Princess then grabbed her head and Maggie felt a scream die as she felt roots dig into her body. She felt her blood begin to drain and be replaced by the chlorophyll-like substance that passed for blood amongst the plant life on that world.

Moreover, her skin, still dark and wholesome, began to harden and her hair grew like a weed. All over her body, the leaves and bark grew into an intricate pattern that only she could properly convey. Bones and cartilage had their cells rearranged on a level unknown to most outside Tuls’ people. The pain soon passed and she felt her fingers sharpen. Her mind was then opened to all the life on the world. From the smallest blade of grass to the tallest tree that would dwarf a city. It not longer mattered what she was, but what she was a part of. What she was capable of. What she could become.

She was no longer Maggie Lacivi, the human girl that everyone hated.

She was Florani. She whom everyone would love and fear.

She opened her eyes, her sclera a dark velvet and the same triangle formation in her pupils, and at the same time, multiple flowers began to sprout from between the folds of her hair as if they were always there. Her pupils shone with the power the Florani gave her and with her instinct for survival, the Florani rallied to the defense.

She looked down to the now still body of Ranunculae. So desperate she was to defend her people, she had now crowned a complete stranger to take her place.

She snarled at the oncoming divisions of foot soldiers and heavy armor outside the massive grove they had found themselves holed up in.

The vines beneath the ground moved to a fro at her command and quickly they took place beneath the Titan Soldiers. As her enemy walked into her trap, the vines burst forth and entangled every single soldier and vehicle they could grasp. Try as they might, the vines quickly disarmed them and pulled them beneath ground where she gave the Florani one command;

Consume.

And consume they did.

To Maggie’s surprise, the Florani learned about their enemies through consumption and with with a lower ranked Strategos now a part of her, she knew the location of the rest of their armies and the fleets in orbit.

She did not stop there. She could not stop. The desire to consume, to expand her consciousness, and get even with the universe that rejected her overrode everything.

Infiltration units, designed to look exactly like soldiers were dispatched to return to the Titan forces and spread Maggie’s influence.

Her pollen, upon skin contact or inhaled, spread like a disease. Their wills, swallowed up in hers, would each become part of her. And together, she would be complete. Squads, divisions, every unit down to the last individual became part of Florani.

With lightning speed, all communication between the ground forces and their reinforcements in space were assimilated and the fleet above was none the wiser.

Using evolution to create new means of infection, macro organisms, filled to the brim with the pollen, were shot into space and before the fleet could mount a proper defense, they too were infected.

World after world, the same process was repeated. Entire worlds, some barren, some used, others dead, were turned into her gardens, where more of Florani were born, converted, and sent to spread Florani.

Maggie, no, Florani’s reach soon reached the attention of not only Titan, but another tyrant that had been given the former much trouble.

An emissary was sent to speak with Florani, and despite her initial instinct to consume or convert the emissary, she heard this, Vengess, declare that the All-Consuming Flame desired a truce and or an alliance to destroy Titan.

Florani remembered a flame from her previous human life. A very real one. It was only a source of sorrow for her. Yet, curiosity demanded she see this All-Consuming Flame. See if it was whom she thought it was. After all, it wouldn’t be a far gone conclusion if it was.

Not long after, she found herself face to face with Ava.

She had grown in more way than one.

She had a pair of horns that had grown out of her scalp and now curled around her ear to her shoulders. Her hair was a living river of flame. Her eyes shone with the power of a living, breathing sun.

“Maggie,” Ava called to her with a look of relief, sorrow, and horror.

“No,” Maggie shot back without thinking, “It’s Florani! Maggie’s dead!”

Ava was about to falter, but then anger crossed her features. “I don’t believe that.”

“Didn’t you hear me?!”

“Yes, I did. And I heard Maggie’s voice. Why? Why are you doing this?”

“No!” Maggie roared. “I’m Florani! You can’t,” she began to stumble, “you can’t hurt Maggie anymore,” her resolve wavered. “No one can hurt her anymore.” The leaves and flowers in her hair began to droop.

“No one,” she began to mutter between sniffs, “no one cares. They never did.”

All this havoc. All this destruction. All the power she had gained to ensure no one would hurt her amounted to nothing. She felt so empty.

She then felt a pair of warm hands crawl up the sides of her head and wrap behind her neck. She did not look up as she was pulled into the collarbone of Ava’s dress. It smelled of starlight and the metallic aftertaste of blood.

“I did. I always did,” Ava whispered into her hair. The Vengess’ breath was as warm as her touch as she kissed the top of Maggie’s head. Soothing. Calming. The anger and hurt Maggie felt began to ebb and she found it hard not to cough and sniff.

Her arms slowly wrapped around Ava’s waist and she sobbed quietly, “please, don’t want what happened before to happen again.”

The memories came and went through both of them as Ava nodded and answered resolutely, “it won’t. I promise.”

Maggie sniffed again before she looked up to Ava. “Can you keep it, though? I mean, Titan’s not going to stand still. He’s going to try and kill us both and if he does,” she began as images she’d rather not entertain filtered into her mind.

Ava pulled back a moment and looked directly into Maggie’s eyes. She extended her hand and declared, with the dignity of an empress, “do you trust me?”

Maggie could not deny that Ava had grown. She was no longer that scared little girl she once knew. With great hesitation, Maggie’s hand slowly, but eventually, rested its palm atop Ava’s.

“Yes.”


End file.
